You Said Forever REPOST
by eternal-lie
Summary: REPOST Kenny and Vicki are about to start their lives...but nothing ever goes as planned in South Park. But when Kyle decides to fix things, will he only make them worse? Rated T for language and themes.
1. The First

**So the usual disclaimer; I don't own South Park, or any related characters.**

**And I guess the only notice I ought to give you, is that there's a lot of sexual references, but no actual sex (I know, a story without sex from my warped little mind? Promise it'll be worth it.)**

* * *

"Oh come on..."

Vicki grumbled as she banged on the outhouse door. Kenny had been in their for _ages._ Well, probably more like three minutes, but it felt like ages when you'd drank a two litre of diet coke and really, really needed to take a piss. "Goddamnit, Ken; quit jacking off in there!"

"_Hey, this is me you're talking to; not Kyle. I can't remember the last time I needed to beat my meat."_

Hearing the seat go down, she jumped out of the way just as the door flung open. "I offered to build this thing as a double." He reminded her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And you said not to waste the lumber."

"Because at the time we weren't living out here full time." Vicki reminded her boyfriend, slipping out of his arms and into the shit shack.

"Annoying, beautiful man..." After seven years together, some things had changed, but a lot had stayed the same. Kenny had given up on school, and gotten a job working as a mechanic at the town garage. After his dad had died, Carol had signed over Kenny's guardianship to him—a mutual emancipation or something—and they'd more or less moved out of the McCormick house entirely. Kevin was off the grid, calling from pay phones when he needed Kenny to help him deal with his dealers.

But they still hung out with Stan, Kyle, Wendy, Bebe and Butters. They still went over to Stan's to play video games, and Kyle's to let Sheila go on and on about them being too thin, while shoving kosher meats and breads down their throats. And Wendy and Stan were still together, even though Kyle and Bebe weren't.

Settling down on the seat, Vicki held up the slim stick-thing that was the whole reason she'd drank two litres of pop in the first place. You never needed to pee when you wanted to take a pregnancy test. It wasn't her first one—she'd used one that time the condom broke. But that had been precautionary. This...

Peeing on the stick, she placed it off to the side to wait for the results. This time she was late, and she didn't want to tell Kenny until she knew, because he was bound to freak out; good or bad. Why wind him up when it was likely just a fluctuation? After all, the thing had only come out that _one night _before they'd gone back to rubber...

Ah, who was she kidding? This was exactly the type of thing that idiot Dr. Doctor had warned her about when she decided not to go on the pill. Picking up the test to check, Vicki stared intently at the little pink plus sign. "Shit."

She stuffed the test back into her pocket, and shuffled back through the light snow to the tree house. It was mid-March, and if it hadn't been for a few space heaters, and a sketchy electrical line Jimbo had helped them install, they would probably had frozen their asses off sometime in early November. But luckily, she only had to chill a few seconds before she was back up into the warmth of their 'home'.

"Ken?"

He looked up from the repair manual he'd been reading. "Yeah?"

She flopped down on the bed beside him, mattress creaking in protest. "Remember how we were talking a couple of nights ago about family, and what we'd name our kids?"

"Yeah..." Damnit, why did he have to look so clueless?

"And remember how the IUD came out on Valentine's day night when we were 'celebrating'?"

"Vicki, what are you getting at?"

She resisted the urge to face-palm. "Start thinking of baby names."

Blue eyes widened to about the size of saucers. "No way..."

"Yeah way."

"You're really... we're gonna be parents?"

"Yes."

Kenny's face was so filled with wonder and joy she couldn't help it; she started to feel a little excited about it herself. "I'm gonna be a dad!" He shouted, and leaning over, he placed a hand on her flat stomach. "And I'm gonna be a better dad than either of their grandpas were. I'll kill myself before I become a dead-beat or un-involved. I'm gonna be there."

Vicki pulled her boyfriend up level with her face. "Of course you will be." She kissed him. "You can't be any worse than Stuart, anyways."

He nodded, absently stroking where they knew the little fetus was growing inside her. "The only way I could be worse than Dad, would be if I was like Kevin. And I am never gonna be a heroin addict—I promise."

She held up the arm that wasn't around his neck, and watched the promise ring glint in the Saturday afternoon light. "And you are really amazing at keeping you promises. I know that."

"I'll keep this one too."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _You took my hand you showed me how _ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Kyle was busy studying Intro Calculus when Stan, Wendy, Bebe, Kenny and Vicki came bursting into his room, scaring the shit out of him. "JESUS YOU GUYS—LEARN TO KNOCK!"

Bebe smiled at him innocently. "But your door was half open. And your mom already gave us the usual 'if Kyle's door is closed, he's probably spanking the monkey' lecture she always does. Not that it really matters. The only one of us who hasn't seen your junk at some point is Wendy."

He thought about attacking his ex-girlfriend, and opted to let it go instead. "Why the Hell did you all have to come over here anyways?"

They all turned to look at Vicki, who was grinning sheepishly. "Well...Kenny and I have some news. We're...I'm pregnant."

Kyle felt like the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. "You're pregnant?"

"About a month. I still need to confirm it with the doctor, but Bebe showed up at the tree house, and then she dragged us over to tell Stan and Wendy..."

"And they're going to get married in August!" Bebe added excitedly. "Oh, I always wanted to do a summer wedding... this is gonna be better than the promise ceremony!"

"Yeah..." They were all beaming at him, expecting him to be just as happy for Vicki and Kenny as they were. But he couldn't help feeling a little... He still hadn't quite let his hope for a chance with Vicki die, and this announcement really put out that last little flame. _Hope is the worst of all evils, for it prolongs the torment of man._ No shit, Nietzsche.

Vicki gave the others a look, and they cleared out, leaving the two of them alone. Sitting on Kyle's bed, she gave him that 'tell me what it is' look. The one he never could resist. "So this is really it; no more chances."

"No more chances." She agreed. "Not that there were a lot of them to start with."

He couldn't help but smile at that. "I know. I don't think I ever really had one at all. But I thought I did, and so I kinda kept hoping."

"That's what makes hope a bitch."

"The biggest bitch of them all."

Getting up, Vicki hugged Kyle tightly. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Stan and Wendy, but Kenny and I are planning on naming you and Bebe as godparents."

That was a bit of a surprise. "Me and Bebe as godparents? But why not—?"

"If we asked Wendy, we'd have to ask Stan, and as much as I like Stan, and he's an awesome friend, he's not my _best_ friend. And Kenny's already decided not to argue with the pregnant girl."

Funny, because she didn't look pregnant yet. Kyle knew that it had to be pretty early, but still... She looked like regular Vicki; all soft, firm curves and long lean limbs. But if she was pregnant, that would change. Then everything would change. He'd be a godfather...

"What does a godfather do exactly anyways?"

Vicki shrugged. "I think originally godparents were supposed to teach the kid about God. But seeing as Kenny _knows_ God, and I'm a heretic, and you're a Jew... Really, all you're supposed to do is take care of the kid if something happens to Kenny and I."

He couldn't help feeling a little freaked out by the idea. "Vicki—I don't know how to take care of a kid. _I'm_ a kid." Well, he'd be an adult in May, but the point was he wasn't responsible like an adult yet.

"You don't need to worry, Kyle. Kenny and I aren't planning on going anywhere. Well, Ken might die, but he lives on a cosmic yo-yo. But we're gonna be fine for the next little while, so don't worry about it yet. Besides, it would be you and Bebe splitting the responsibility."

"You know that just because Bebe and I are still friends, doesn't mean we would be able to raise a kid together."

She shook her head a bit at him. "Kyle; nothing is going to happen to Kenny and I."

Kyle reminded himself that they'd all said things like that to each other before, and they'd been lying. Especially when it came to Kenny and her. "Vicki, you live in a tree house, you eat whatever's on sale, you spend at least an hour every day having sex, and you party like a rock star. How are you gonna take care of a baby, or yourself enough to have one?"

"A lot of things are gonna have to change. We're gonna move back in with Carol and Karen when it starts getting too difficult to climb up the ladder. And I know all I have to do to get fed is go see your mom. She loves me."

"We'll see how much she loves you when she finds out you're having a kid."

Vicki laughed. "Ah well, she knows what Kenny and I are like. And she won't be able to resist the cuteness that's to come. Plus she can spend months meddling in my life telling me to not eat this, and not do that, and 'for goodness sake, convince that man of yours to build you a proper home'."

Kyle wasn't in disagreement about the house idea. If any of them could build a house you could live in, it was Kenny. After all, he'd made the tree house into a one room 'home' with a little electricity and some salvaged furniture. But there hadn't been a deadline for that. If they built a house...

"Apparently Kenny's already looking into the property claims around town."She continued, as if reading his mind. "I think some of it is still under Claim Laws from back in the nineteenth century. If there's part of the woods that's unclaimed, we could build a claim shanty there and eventually turn it into a house."

"I'm guessing you're gonna get Jimbo to help you set up another electric hook-up?"

"Hey, when you want someone who's willing to bend the rules and ignore the laws, you go drag Jimbo out of the bar."

"You sober him up first, right?"

"...Sure."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _You promised me you'd be around _ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Wendy and Bebe collapsed onto her couch, laughing like lunatics. They'd escaped Kyle's mom by leaving Stan and Kenny to listen to her lecture about how 'in her day, you were lucky if you didn't get shot by a girl's father for knocking her up' and 'if they were going to have a shot gun wedding, they would have to at least have a proper one, so the whole town would pitch in'. Frankly, they weren't sure how she even knew Vicki was pregnant. That had been the one part Bebe hadn't announced at the top of her lungs.

"...Do you think she's got Kyle's room wired?" Wendy asked, breathlessly.

"Oh God, I hope not. Can you imagine Mrs. B listening to Kyle moaning out whatever he does when he jacks off? That would be soooo disgusting."

"Or listening to you two back in Grade Nine."

The look in Bebe's face—horror mingled with a little nausea—was priceless.

"...Wendy, do not ever speak such a blasphemy upon my sex life." She whispered hoarsely. "Not unless you want to be covered in barf for the first time in almost eight years."

Well, that wasn't exactly true. The first time Stan had gotten properly smashed with her—the day they'd graduated from South Park Elementary—he'd barfed all over her brand new jeans. But at least he hadn't barfed the first time they made love.

"You may have to get used to it, if you help raise the baby. Kids barf a lot." Wendy reminded her friend. "And Vicki's gonna have morning sickness too."

Bebe made a face. "That's the one thing I'm not jealous about; gaining weight, barfing in the morning, and having my body all stretched out of shape."

"But you do want a baby, right?"

"Someday. Not right now."

Wendy nodded. She could see why not having a baby until later would be good. You weren't tied down, and didn't tie anyone else down with you. With Kenny and Vicki, it didn't matter so much, because neither of them had planned to go to college. Kenny wasn't even planning on graduating from high school. He _liked_ working at the garage. He wasn't wasting time learning about how to calculate a logarithmic curve, or what William Shakespeare meant by 'the sun itself sees not 'til heaven clears'. He was making money that supplemented what they got from the emancipation agreement, and even though half of it was going to help his mom and sister, they were doing alright.

"When Stan and I are a little older, I hope we have a baby. But I don't think Stan does." She sighed. "He tends to..."

"Wendy, when Stan sees kids, he runs the other way." Bebe stated bluntly. "Remember when my aunt and uncle were visiting, and Vicki dumped the baby on him? I thought he was going to have a panic attack."

"Okay, so he's not a natural dad..." Actually, a six hundred pound gorilla was a more natural dad than Stan. "But I think he will get the hang of it when he spends more time with Vicki and Kenny's baby."

Bebe stared at her. "I'm pretty sure it would take you getting pregnant to make Stan into dad material. And don't you dare get pregnant, either. Wanting to have sex with Stan when we were ten was one thing, but wanting a baby is different."

"I know, Bebe. I'm not a jealous little girl anymore. We're gonna be graduating in a few months."

"And Kenny and Vicki will be getting married." She sighed happily. "Oh, I just can't wait to help Vicki pick out her wedding dress..."

"And the flowers."

"And the food."

"And I really hope they write their own wedding vows." Wendy added. "I'm pretty sure Father Maxi will understand."

"He slept with Cartman's mom. I'm pretty sure a couple of teenagers having a shotgun wedding and writing their own vows won't disturb him too much."

"Nah, but if Vicki and Kenny do their porno-kissing at the altar..."

Both teens collapsed back into helpless laughter, imagining their friends making out in front of the whole town in the church. God would either strike them down, or start wolf-whistling up in Heaven.

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _Uh huh, that's right... _ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Vicki waited nervously as the phone rang. "C'mon Mom, pick up the phone..."

They'd told just about everyone who needed to know, after confirming it with a better test at the doctor's office. Really, it had only taken about ten minutes, and then they'd gone around telling all the adults they needed to. Carol had been over the moon at the idea of her 'responsible' son being the one who got her a grandbaby. And Sharon and Sheila had done the 'oh that's so wonderful...so when's the wedding?' thing that old-fashioned mothers tended to do. But Vicki hadn't minded that so much, because she could tell them early August.

But now she had to make the big one; the phone-call to tell her parents in Arizona. She wasn't sure exactly what she was planning to say. 'Hey Mom, I'm pregnant' sounded awful, like she had failed them or something. But 'we're having a baby' sounded sorta planned, and then they'd want to know all the details...

"Hello?"

Vicki drew in a shaky breath. "Hey Mom."

"Oh, Vicki honey!" She sounded genuinely surprised. "I wasn't expecting it to be you. How are you? How's Colorado?"

"Fine, fine, and Kenny's fine to before you ask. I just called because we have some big news..."

"So you're finally pregnant? Your father and I have been expecting you to call about that since you were about fifteen." Her mother laughed. "You always were a 'mature' kid. I remember how guilty you and Matt would look when you almost got caught when you were nine. So how far along?"

"Just a month." Vicki replied, feeling a little more relaxed now that she knew her mother wasn't going to go over the deep end.

"A month? You know exactly a month? That's awfully quick to know; I wasn't sure you even existed until about three months."

"Well that was the night the IUD came out, so we're assuming it was then. I mean, it probably wasn't the smartest move to just keep going, but when you're almost there..."

"Well, honey, remember that you never did much talking about that sort of thing with your old mom..." She was trying to get her off the topic. "But what I do want to know is whether we'll be coming down to South Park for a wedding."

"Well Kenny and I just found out yesterday, but we're thinking early August, before it gets to be too much for me. Planning a South Park wedding apparently means just picking out the dress, flowers, decor, food and hiring a DJ because the ceremony is always at the church, the reception is always at the community center, and the entire town comes, whether they like you or not."

"Does that mean that awful Eric Cartman will be there?"

Vicki faltered. She hadn't thought about Cartman in so long. "I guess I forgot to tell you... Eric Cartman's dead. He broke out of Juvie when we were thirteen, and I shot him when he attacked Kenny. That's how I got hit by that car."

They knew about the car because Linda and Steven Stotch had called them while she was in the hospital. It had taken careful negotiating on her part to convince them not to come down to see her. Vicki hadn't wanted to let them gloat about 'how well she could take care of herself'. It had only been in the past year that they could talk civilly at all.

"Oh honey...why didn't you tell me? That must have been so traumatic..."

"Mom, it turned out fine. Cartman was an asshole who tried to kill me, and I was glad to see he was dead, even though the cops couldn't believe I hit him right between the eyes the first time I ever fired a gun."

To be honest, she still couldn't believe it. She hadn't been aiming there—she hadn't been aiming at all. How the hell were you supposed to aim with a concussion anyways? It had been a lucky shot, and after about a month of trying to figure out if she wished she hadn't hit him fatally, she'd decided that if she'd tried to aim, she would have missed, and Kenny would have died along with her, and God only knew what would happen if they both died at the same time. So she stopped thinking about it entirely before she got too deep into her own head, and consequent fears. But she wasn't going to tell any of that to her mom.

"Well I guess that'll prove to your father that firearms are not a 'men's only' toy. I remember when you were five, and you used to play around in the back lane with Josh and Tom and Matt, and you'd be playing with toy guns and your father would get so worried you'd turn out to be a lesbian—"

Okay, too much information. "No need to worry about that one, Mom. Believe me..."

"Oh I know. Carol must be so excited to be having a grandbaby." Her mother ploughed on. "How is she doing anyway? I know it must be hard for her since Stuart died last year."

"Actually I think it's been easier on her not to have to support an unemployed alcoholic, and now that Kevin's out of the house—"

"Kevin's moved out?"

"Well...his stuff's still there, but he's crashing in people's houses, high as a kite."

Finally, there was silence on the other end. Mrs. Miranda Monroe had finally been rendered speechless. Taking it as her chance, Vicki promised to call later with a definite wedding date, and hung up on her mother.

**

* * *

**

Yeah, a baby; who didn't see that coming. And I'm going to mention that I have yet to find a doctor in Manitoba that will put an IUD in someone under the age of twenty five (at least, one that I would trust). But if there was a plastic surgeon that would give nine year old Wendy breast implants in South Park, there would probably be a doctor who would give a sixteen (or maybe even younger) year old an IUD.


	2. The Second

**So I'm going to admit that I have no idea how houses are built; that's Kenny's thing in this story. But if I had to plan out a house, I would actually go around to my friends' houses to look at theirs.**

* * *

Kenny ignored Stan's grumbling as he paced out the Marsh's kitchen. If he was going to build a house, he was going to do it right. And that meant having a kitchen area that was big enough to cook in, but not so big that it would cost a fortune in building supplies. Because all they had was what he was making at the garage, and an 'investment' from The Mole. Christophe had basically agreed to buy the tree house for his own use when he and Gregory were in town, so he could finally get away from paying rent and being consequently on the grid. Ten thousand dollars was sitting in the bank, and Kenny wasn't planning on spending a dime of it until he knew exactly what he was doing, and how he'd do it, and what he could get away with salvaging.

"What about Butters' parents' kitchen?" Stan asked, kicking the grumbling up to whining. He wasn't so annoyed that it was his kitchen being measured; it was that he had to take down the measurements Kenny called out to him.

"Too big dude. Your family has the smallest kitchen, and Vicki likes how it's laid out. I mean, we might not be able to afford a stove and dish washer for awhile...but someday we will."

"Remind me why she's not here doing this with you?"

Kenny rolled his eyes in frustration. "She's not here because she has a doctor's appointment with the OB-GYN doctor, and she told me that she'd really rather I wasn't there, because I get antsy about another man sticking his hand into my girlfriend."

Stan smirked. "Get used to it, dude. Vicki's vag is gonna get more people's attention in the next eight months than when we were thirteen and she fucked with Kyle."

"Seven and a half months." He corrected absently, pulling out the tape measure, and measuring the countertop. "And I think I can get away with adding another section of this. We don't really need a garbage can in the corner."

"Dude, I think we finally found the thing that can distract you from Vicki's anatomy; building shit."

"...Stan, shut up and write this down."

Apparently the jock wasn't interested in following instructions. "No, I'm serious. It's like you're an adult or something—"

That was enough. Kenny smacked the measuring tape down onto the counter, and ran a hand roughly through his hair. "Stan, I'm an adult because Vicki's pregnant and in seven and a half months, I'm gonna be a dad. And in seven and a half months, I want to know that Vicki can bring that little boy or girl home to a real home—not my mom's place. And part of that's to do with the fact that I know her parents are gonna come back from Arizona for the birth, and I wanna show them that Vicki didn't make a mistake picking me over them."

There was silence from the kitchen table, and Kenny knew Stan was looking for something to say that wouldn't make him sound like an asshole. "...I didn't know they bothered you so much."

"They thought that moving Vicki away from everything she knew would make the Matt situation better. They didn't come rushing to the hospital the night Cartman attacked her, and they didn't come to the trial. And when they decided to move back to Arizona, they made her choose me over them. Vicki's parents have been shitty to her because they're never really there for her. But she loves them because they're her parents, and that's what you do."

No matter how shitty life with his parents had been, Kenny'd still loved them—or his mother at least. It was hard to love someone who lashed out drunkenly or passed out stoned all the time. But his mom had tried, and then she'd willingly given him the ability to work and support himself because she knew he could do a better job of it on his own. Vicki's parents, for all their faults, hadn't wanted to let her go.

"Yeah, my dad's the biggest idiot in existence, but I still love him as my dad." Stan agreed.

"And Butters' parents almost kicked him out when his came out as bi-gender. But he still loves them." Kenny pointed out. "Even though they don't let him be Marjorine in the house."

Butters was a whole other deal though; he loved his parents after his mother tried to kill him, and they chained him up in the basement when they'd thought he was dead. "Marjorine went with Vicki to the appointment." He added.

"Why as Marjorine?"

"Because apparently Butters is just as hot for her as everyone else, and he figured Marjorine is safer at a personal appointment." It was probably true. His ability to switch between being male and female was a little uncanny, and even though the Butters side of him leaned more towards bi, Marjorine was pretty damn straight.

Stan frowned. "You know, I never will understand the bi-gender thing."

"Apparently you can't unless you are." Kenny explained. "I just let Vicki handle all the awkward social shit, and enjoy watching people's brains cramp as they try to figure it out."

"You enjoy it because you are a twisted fuck, Ken."

"I'd rather be a twisted fuck than a stick in the mud like you, Mr. 'I gotta get into Columbia University'."

"Yeah, well..." He'd hit a spot. Stan had started avoiding talking college or university in front of them back in September when Vicki had announced to them that she had no plan of going to post-secondary if Kenny wasn't. They all knew it was because he felt bad about leaving them behind, but anytime Vicki tried to force the issue, he'd back down and bow out. But it was the end of March—it was happening soon—and Kenny was more than sick of it.

"Dude, I know you feel like you're breaking up the group by going so far when Kyle's settling on going to the University of Denver, but the group was broken up when we were ten, and Cartman went off the deep end. It stopped being the four of us, and became you and Wendy, and Vicki and me, and Kyle. And that was fine, because we couldn't stay as four forever—not unless we became a four-way-gay-polyamourous thing—and even though Kyle was kinda on his own, he spent enough time with the rest of us to make up for it."

Stan nodded, looking thoughtful, and then suddenly made a face. "Dude, did you seriously say 'four-way-gay-polyamourous'?"

Kenny couldn't help it, he started laughing. "Dude, just think like me."

"Last time I did that, I imagined Vicki riding you bareback in the cowgirl position."

He just barely ducked the tape measure Kenny chucked at his head.

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I took your words and I believed_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

"...And that there is the foetus."

Marjorine couldn't help the swell of emotion that came with seeing Kenny and Vicki's baby on the ultrasound monitor. It was so _right_ that they were pregnant. They'd always known it would happen someday... "Vicki isn't it amazing?"

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing." Her friend smiled up at her. "Little scary, but pretty amazing. Thanks for being here, Marj."

Whether she was Marjorine or Butters, Vicki didn't seem to see her friend any differently. The others, even Kenny, were still a little unsure of Marjorine. Except for Jason, of course. They'd been dating for almost two years, and while at first it had been a little awkward, because Butters and Marjorine had had to be introduced to his parents separately, they had fallen into a routine where Marjorine came out whenever she was wanted or needed, and the rest was more or less Butters. After all, Butters was the original identity. And Jason had gotten pretty used to having a boyfriend, and a girlfriend.

"So explain to me again why you think Butters wouldn't have been a good choice to bring here?" Vicki asked, as the OB-GYN shut down the machine and wiped the jelly off her stomach.

"Because you know Butters still likes your body, Vicki, and watching you get a hand put up there might just make him a little uncomfortable. There are times when a girl needs her girl friend, not her guy friend. You wouldn't bring Kyle here, would you?"

"No, I don't think it would do him any favours."

The OB-GYN was now looking at them rather oddly. "Kyle's my best friend that I had an affair with. Butters is my next closest friend, and Marjorine's other half."

"Ah." He still didn't understand it obviously, but seemed willing enough to let it go.

They finished up with the appointment and signed all the papers; Vicki had another appointment in a month, when they could tell her the gender of the foetus. Leaving the clinic, they made their way over to Butters' car; the one thing that was only Butters', because it was registered in his name. It had been in pretty rough shape when he'd gotten it, with lots of dings in the body, and had definitely needed a new clutch. But Kenny had fixed it up, and now the little sky blue mini coop ran like a dream.

"Marj, do you sometimes think about a family?"

She knew what Vicki was really asking. Did she sometimes wish she'd been born into the _other_ body, so she could have a baby? She had talked about it sometimes with Jason, as both Marjorine and Butters, and they had reached the same conclusion each time. "Sometimes. And sometimes I think that it would've been nice to have been born female. But I like this body too. It does almost as much as yours, without bleeding every month."

"Hey, mine won't be doing that for awhile." Vicki reminded her. "And then I'm gonna pop out this baby and Kenny and I get to live a white-trash happily ever after."

Marjorine couldn't help but laugh. "White trash is right. Vicki, all you and Kenny need is a couch at the base of the tree house and a red pickup truck."

"Unfortunately we can't afford either of those."

"Sure you can. All you need is to whore Kenny out. He's done it before."

Apparently there were still things Vicki didn't know about Kenny. "What do you mean _he's done it before?"_

"I thought you knew. I mean you guys joke about it all the time."

"Yeah, but it was never serious!"

Shit; she shouldn't have said anything. "It was a long time ago, Vicki. It doesn't really matter."

"If Kenny has something he didn't tell me, I NEED TO KNOW!"

"OKAY, okay. Kenny used to do crazy stunts and got his own television show, and then he went on TV with Tom Green and Johnny Knoxville to be interviewed by Howard Stern... and he ended up giving him a hummer for ten bucks."

Vicki opened her mouth, closed it, grit her teeth, and face-palmed. "Why the fuck am I even surprised?"

"On the bright side, he hasn't done it since. And he's been a really good boyfriend when it comes to not wanting to be with other girls."

Well that was true. Kenny had never done more than mildly flirt with red or Millie. None of them had ever seen him really hit on a girl who wasn't Vicki since they got together. It was like...she was enough sex for him. Whether or not she'd continue to be...

"...You and Kenny aren't going to stop having sex because you're pregnant, right?"

Vicki smirked. "Like hell we will. Besides, Kenny's gonna love it when my boobs get bigger."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _In everything you said to me_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Kyle held up the blueprints he and Kenny had been working on all week. They weren't professional by any standards, but everything they needed to put was there. Even the potential electrical outlets were marked. "You have Stan's kitchen, Ike's bedroom, Butters' bathroom, and Bebe's living room in one house."

"I know. I measured them all."

"You do realize what that could look like."

"Well I'm not gonna decorate the same way." Kenny huffed. "S'just the dimensions. I got lucky that they all fit together."

They did fit together. The width of the bathroom and bedroom was the same as the living area, and then the long kitchen fit along the side of the house. "You do realize Stan, Craig, Token, Clyde and the rest of us are going to help you as much as we can, right?"

"You're not getting paid for it." He reminded the Jew.

"It's our wedding present." Kyle grinned at his friend. "You guys are gonna get enough towels and plates and shit from our moms, you don't need any from us."

"Free labour's much more useful."

They both laughed, and Kyle's eyes fell on the blueprints again. "I know your parents raised you and Kev and Karen in an old play fort, but what if you have more kids? Where are you going to have room for them?"

"Notice the dead end in the kitchen? All I need to do is punch a door in that wall, and build on an addition wide enough for a hallway and two bedrooms... and we've got a family home."

Leave it to Kenny to actually think about that. "Dude, you're definitely an adult now."

"Yeah. But you've been a man for years now." Kenny teased. "Remember your Bar Mitzvah?"

He would never forget. They'd waited until autumn, between his father's work, his mother's conference, and Vicki's accident. The ceremony had been about as boring as a Bar Mitzvah was supposed to be, but the after party... his mother would have flipped a shit if she'd known just what her son had gotten into that night. Namely beer, booze, and Bebe.

"Hey, so far as my mother knows, I stayed over at Stan's, same as I 'always do'."

"You know she probably thinks you guys are gay, right?"

"Why would she think that?"

"Sleepovers are for eight year olds, and girls. When you're still doing it at sixteen or seventeen... that's just really gay."

Kyle chucked the nearest thing his could find at his friend. The stapler hit him smack in the forehead, and Kyle couldn't help laughing at the shiny staple embedded in Kenny's skin. Pulling it out, Kenny stared at the piece of bloody metal. "Kyle, one of these days, you're gonna kill me, and then you know Vicki's gonna come after you, beat your ass, and leave you dead in a ditch."

Kyle shrugged. "Then she'd have to make Stan Godfather, and you know he'd probably drop the kid on its head."

"There's always Butters."

"...I think your kid's better off with me alive."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _Yeah huh, that's right..._ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

"...What about Annabelle Lee?"

Kenny couldn't help making a face. He and Vicki were lying in bed, browsing through the baby name book Sharon had given them from when Stan had been born. So far, they'd ruled out naming the kid after any of their relatives. But they hadn't really found one that they both liked yet.

"That sounds like some old-time southern belle. And kids like Bebe would never let her down, if it's a girl." He still thought it was a boy.

"Well what were you thinking for a boy then?" Vicki asked, slightly annoyed.

"Terrence. Or Phillip."

"No way. Our son is not being named for a Canadian comedy duo you used to watch as a kid."

He hadn't thought so. "Alright, alright...how about Matt?"

Vicki looked at him sharply. "Matt?"

"Yeah. I know you really loved Matt, and if he hadn't died, I think he would be the one you'd be having the baby with. Mostly because then you wouldn't have had a reason to move to South Park. But I know he meant a lot to you."

Twisting around from her place leaning against his chest, Vicki kissed him warmly. "Matt sounds like the perfect name for a boy."

"And for a girl?"

"Kylie."

"Kylie?" He hadn't been expecting that. "You wanna name her after Kyle?"

Vicki shrugged. "I know it's kinda stupid... but I think Kylie Stacey McCormick would be a pretty awesome name."

"Either Kylie Stacey McCormick, or Matthew Eric McCormick."

"Matthew _Eric_?"

It was Kenny's turn to shrug. "If it wasn't for that crazy bastard, we wouldn't be how we are today."

Vicki settled back against his chest, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I guess you're right. I wonder how it could've been, if he hadn't gone crazy, and we'd been friends instead."

"Well, he wouldn't have tried to kill you..." Well actually, he'd tried to kill Kyle a few times, and the rest of them too. Even if it was with a whiffle bat. Cartman was that kind of friend—the kind that kept you banging your head against the wall, wondering why the hell you were friends at all. "Okay, he might have. But he wouldn't have tried hard."

"That's very assuring, Kenny. It's nice to know he wouldn't have put too much effort into trying to kill me."

**

* * *

**

I think these last two chapters were really going back to my roots. (I used to write under Cassiopeia823 in the Bones archive) This is pretty feel-good happy. But I don't use song lyrics as breaks for nothing...


	3. The Third

**So I was just thinking today that the big difference with this story compaired to the others is that it doesn't all happen within a week or so. It's a long-haul story, and I think that even though it might seem more rushed... did you really want to go through almost every day of a pregnancy?**

* * *

Bebe fought the urge to drool as she stared at the most beautiful cake she'd ever seen. She, Wendy, Sharon, Sheila, and Vicki had taken a Saturday afternoon to drive to Denver to look at wedding cakes. So that was why Bebe was fighting the urge to attack the off-white with dark chocolate filigree icing mocha masterpiece in front of her. "Vicki, you _have to _get this one."

"It looks like it's been embroidered." Wendy said critically. "And mocha is not a wedding cake flavour—it's a you favour."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Because it's not your wedding."

Oh yeah. "Vicki, what do _you_ think?"

Vicki, who'd been standing there watching them bicker, shrugged. "I don't like mocha, and I don't like filigree."

Bebe couldn't help feeling bummed out. It was such a beautiful cake... "I need to get married."

Vicki rested a hand on her barely rounded stomach. "This is the only reason why any teenager should get married. Even Kenny and I would have waited for a few more years."

"Well that's because you've been basically living together since you were ten." Wendy pointed out. "Getting married doesn't really change much—you're only doing it now because the entire town would flip a shit if you didn't."

"Well, I'm not going to argue with a free wedding. Apparently Cartman's mom donated five thousand dollars, because she still feels bad about what he did."

"Well, you don't need to care about the motive—you just take the money and buy a dress." Bebe giggled. "And it's gonna be a beautiful dress, I know it."

It was going to be a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom were so in love, and once they had the flowers and cake and decor... Bebe couldn't wait to get really started on wedding details. She loved weddings, she loved planning weddings... she wanted to be a bride more than anything. But so far, no groom had come around. The boys were too immature, or gay, or crazy, or taken, or Craig.

"What about this one, girls?" Sheila's voice rang out from the back of the shop. "Oh, I think it's absolutely adorable."

Joining the older women, Bebe had to agree that it was a great cake. Ivory fondant with gold swirls iced around the sides, topped with a small bunch of pale gold lilies and white tea roses. It was actually really beautiful, and it fit the gold theme that they all seemed to have in mind. "I think I'm in love." Wendy breathed, swooning just a bit.

"...Wendy, you are in love with Stan, not my wedding cake. Get married and get your own."

Sharon's eyebrows shot up alarmingly. "Not for a couple of years, _please_."

"Don't worry, Sharon." Bebe assured her. "Stan's nowhere near ready for that. It's kinda why he's not gonna be Kylie's godfather."

This time it was Sheila who looked surprised. "Kylie?"

"Vicki didn't tell you?"

"Apparently not."

They all turned to stare at Vicki. "Kenny and I decided last month that if it was a boy, we'd name him Matthew Eric, and if it was a girl, Kylie Stacey. I found out last week it's a girl."

"OH CONGRADULATIONS!" Sheila exclaimed so loudly, she shook the display cases. "She is gonna be just so spoiled by her Auntie Sheila..!"

Sharon just looked confused. "You're naming her after Kyle?"

"He's my best friend. And the Stacey part is as close as we could get to Stanley. Our two closest friends."

"...Do the boys know yet?"

Vicki shook her head. "It's a surprise. I didn't want Kyle trying to convince me not to name his goddaughter after him for the rest of my pregnancy."

Bebe had to agree with that. She understood why Kenny and Vicki didn't want to directly name the baby after anyone they knew. Girl versions of the guys' names or dead people were one thing, but if they'd named the baby Wendy... they'd always get compared, and that wasn't fair.

"Should we order the cake now?" Wendy asked, getting them back on track. "I know it's pretty far ahead, but that way if we have to change the date of the wedding for some reason, it's easier on them..."

"Let's wait." Sheila said decisively. "We never know what might happen—we might even find a better cake somewhere else."

Bebe doubted that, but she kept her mouth shut. Better safe than sorry.

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _If someone said three years from now you'd be long gone_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Stan stared at the pile of lumber Kenny had salvaged from the dump. "Dude, you are too good at this."

"Years of practice, Stan-my-man." The blonde grinned, tossing more boards out of the bed of Jimbo's truck. They'd borrowed it to haul everything back to the site, and while Stan was the one with the license, he'd had to relinquish the driver's seat to Kenny in order to get to the site. He'd been playing in these woods all his life, and he still got lost. Even though this was their third trip today.

"So how much do you think you'll have to buy?"

"Well, I still don't have the support beams I need, and there's probably going to be more I haven't really even thought of yet. But I think it won't be too bad. Can always call Chris and get him to front me the money."

"You'd borrow money from The Mole?" Kenny was the only one who called him Chris. Even Vicki only called him Christophe to his face.

"He's a dude, Stan; he's human. No fuckin' reason to be afraid of him. Besides, he's totally soft for Vicki."

"Still scares the shit out of me. Even if he wasn't a mercenary, the guy's just fuckin' intense." Last time they'd partied at the tree house, The Mole had pulled out his gun and started shooting pine cones off the trees to show off to Rebecca. Barbradey had actually walked all the way in to check out the noise, before telling them to 'carry on'. The scary part was it had worked; he and Rebecca had fucked around for the couple of weeks he'd been in town.

"You should see Damien now." Kenny laughed. "_That kid_ is fuckin' intense."

Stan scowled. "I don't plan on going to Hell any time soon, dude. Mostly because I don't get round trip tickets like you."

"Hey, it's not forever dude. Someday I'm gonna be normal."

"Normal as in not a hazard to yourself, or normal as in dead?"

Kenny shrugged. "I don't know dude— s'not up to me. That's God's deal."

They started sorting the boards into types on sheets of plastic to keep them dry. "It's gonna be good to be normal, I think." The blonde said absently, chucking a two-by-four to the furthest pile.

"I don't know... you won't be able to see people who're dead anymore."

"Well it's all Mormons in Heaven, and I have to put up with Cartman every time I go to Hell. The only ones I'm gonna miss are Chef, Satan, Michael and God."

Stan didn't really know what to say to that. He missed Chef himself, and he could understand that Kenny was tight with Michael, and Satan... but God was kind of a bastard. Yeah, he knew everything, and he did explain to them about periods on Y2K... but he also let Kenny go on being the cosmic yo-yo, bouncing between Heaven and Hell. And why the fuck should Mormonism be the right religion?

"I think people are better off not knowing about all that cosmic shit." He decided. "Because once you know, it's not as amazing."

"I don't know what not knowing's like." Kenny reminded him. "You guys at least had ten years before I finally convinced you I really do die and come back, and you don't remember. You used to not know."

"...Cosmic secrets are kind of like sex before you've had it. It's more awesome in your head than it is in bed."

He just couldn't seem to help himself. "...Is Wendy really that bad in bed?"

Apparently a one-by-eight couldn't kill your friend when you hit him over the head. It just hurt like a bitch. "She's wonderful. We just can't all date goddesses like Vicki, you know."

"Yeah...I'm a fuckin' lucky bastard. Guess God figured he needed to buy me off or something."

"Maybe he just wanted to make up for being a bastard."

Kenny shrugged. "If I ask, I'll get an answer, and I might not like it. So I'm not gonna worry about it. I've got work, Vicki, and a little girl on the way... who could ask for anything more?"

"Maybe an instant house." Stan suggested. "Do you even know what needs to be done first?

He held up a folder held together with rubber bands. "I've got the Master Plan."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I'd stand up and punch them out, 'cause they're all wrong_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Vicki groaned as the phone started ringing in her ear. She'd been having such a good dream... "Goddamnit. Hello?"

"Vic, it's Kevin. Lemme talk ta Kenny."

Rolling over, she shook Kenny awake. "It's your fucktard brother."

He sighed, taking the phone. "What is it dude?"

Vicki watched Kenny's face as he listened to his brother's latest tale of woe. He'd done this before; calling from somewhere, needing Kenny to help him out, whether it was picking him up from the hospital, paying his dealer, or taking a beating he really deserved. This time, it was money—Kenny was eyeing his wallet.

"You are not going to help him again!" Vicki hissed. "It's one in the morning!"

Kenny ignored her. "Kay... I'll come Kev. But I'm dropping you off at the hospital afterwards, kay?"

He hung up, and hauled himself out of bed. "Kevin just needs me to pay some guys. It's not that much, but it's in Denver."

"You're going to drive to Denver at one in the morning? Ken, that's... you can't keep doing this for him."

He shrugged. pulling on faded jeans and his orange hoodie. "It's the last time."

"Promise?"

Kneeling down next to the bed, Kenny kissed her warmly. "I promise. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Okay."

She watched him disappear out of the tree house, and into the woods. She knew he'd go borrow his mom's truck, and drive to Denver just a little above the speed limit, because he was a little worried about his brother, but not enough to get caught driving without a licence. Then he'd go meet him where they always met, and after Kevin went to pay the dealer he'd pissed off, they'd drive to the hospital, and Kevin would get admitted to detox.

And then next week, Kevin would be out and shooting up heroin again, too affected by a death he couldn't remember to deal with life. Kevin was too much like his father, and too weak, to fight the demons inside him. And Vicki didn't have a shred of pity, because he'd never made an effort to change, but Kenny still went off to his rescue. Because he still had that saviour complex from when he'd been a kid playing Mysterion, or a teenager trying to protect her.

Rolling back over to her side of the bed, Vicki decided it would be better not to wait up for him. If something happened to Kenny, he wouldn't come back that night unless she was asleep. Stupid rule of the cosmos..

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I know better, 'cause you said forever_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Carol McCormick had never heard anyone bang on their front door so loudly in her life. At least, not that she remembered—there were a few holes in her memory from different things. But people usually didn't want to come in, or just came right in without hesitation. Mind, if Kenny took the truck, he usually locked the door after him when he grabbed the keys...

Opening the door, she was shocked to see Vicki there in her pyjamas and coat. "Vicki what is it?"

"Is Kenny here?" She panted. "He never came home last night."

"Where'd he go?"

"To help your idiot son!"

Denver. There were a lot of things that could've happened to him between South Park and Denver. "You know he's probably still with Kevin—"

"He's not answering his phone!" She shouted, and without warning, burst into tears. "Carol, something's wrong, I know it. I feel it."

She could feel it too—some kind of dread settling in her heart and making it hard to breath. "Vicki, I think you're right. But I don't know what to do."

They stood there, staring at each other, at a loss and unsure what to even think, until Vicki's phone rang in her pocket. She put it on speakerphone. "H-hello?"

"Vicki, it's Kevin."

"What happened last night?" Carol asked, just barely keeping her voice calm. "Where's Kenny?"

"I'm sorry..." Shit, he was crying. "Kenny wasn't... they wasn't s'posed ta..."

"What did you do to him you little fucktard?" Vicki looked livid.

"They weren't s'posed ta beat the livin' shit outta him, I swear! They were just s'posed ta take the money an' go! I'm sorry Vicki! Fuck, I'm sorry..."

"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING MARRIED IN AUGUST, KEVIN, AND HAVE A BABY IN NOVEMBER! AND IF HE DOESN'T COME BACK..."

"He will come back." Carol wasn't even sure why she said it, but she felt that it was true. Kenny would come back—he always did. Even if it took a couple of days, he came back. Vicki was just worried because of the baby.

"Carol, I don't think so. Something's wrong." Vicki insisted.

"Give him a week, honey. Sometimes it just takes a little while for him to come back. I know he's been gone less and coming back faster since you got together, but maybe this time God needs him again."

Vicki didn't argue with the older woman. She just hung up her phone. "I better get to class."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _And ever...who knew?_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Butters knew right away something was wrong when Vicki walked to school alone that morning. Kenny always walked her to class on his way to work. But today she was alone and looking worried. so he met her at the school doors.

"What happened?"

"Kenny went to help out Kevin in Denver last night and got killed." She replied softly. "He wasn't there when I woke up this morning."

"Oh Vic..." He pulled her into a hug as she started crying. "It'll be okay. A couple of days, and he'll be home and making it up to you before you know it. I prom—"

Vicki cut him off before he could finish the word. "Don't promise me anything you can't deliver on." She said bleakly. "He promised he'd be home in a few hours last night. Obviously that didn't turn out to well."

"Well then I'm just gonna swear to you that this isn't the end."

She gave him a look that said 'I doubt it' and pushed past him into the school. If he was being honest with himself, Butters was worried. Kenny had been pretty open about the fact that God had been hinting he'd stop re-birthing soon. And with the baby on the way, they had to wonder if maybe Kenny had completed his purpose in this life...

'Stop thinkin' like that, Butters.' He told himself firmly. 'You've gotta believe in happy endings.' If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Kenny and Vicki. Otherwise they would have gone through everything for nothing.

"Butters, what happened to Vicki?" Bebe asked, coning up the steps of the school. "She never blows you off like that."

"Kenny's dead."

"Well he's dead a lot—"

"She thinks he's not coming back, because he wasn't there this morning."

"Oh." Bebe had nothing to say, which meant she probably was thinking it too.

"I don't think now's the time." Butters added. "It just wouldn't be fair."

The other blonde shrugged, and ruffled his hair with a light smile on her lips. "You're such an optimist, Butters...it's cute. But don't you know that life's never fair?"

**

* * *

**

Yeah, I killed Kenny... I'm a bastard. But it had to happen, my darlings.


	4. The Fourth

**Okay so this is where a lot of you will hate me...**

* * *

One night turned into two, which turned into a week, and Stan watched helplessly as Vicki started to fall apart. She lived in the tree house alone, checking every morning with the McCormicks to see if Kenny had turned up in his old bed overnight. And then she'd spend the rest of the day walking around the school like a zombie. She didn't answer when the teachers asked her a question, didn't bother taking notes or doing the work. It was like she was in suspended animation, waiting. Only every once in a while, talking to one of their friends, or breaking down in tears.

The only one she would really talk with, was Kyle. Of course it was Kyle—he was her best friend—but Stan couldn't help feeling a little jealous. They didn't say it in so many words, but everyone knew that over the years, his best friend had shifted from Kyle to Kenny. And with the other two best friends doing their thing, and Kenny gone... he was alone. Even with Wendy.

"Stan, I'm worried about you."

"Me?"

They were walking home from a movie, having spent most of the date in near silence. "Yeah, you. I know everyone's worrying about Vicki because she's taking Kenny being gone so hard, but I see that something's wrong with you too. Can you tell me what it is?"

"...I miss having my best friend here." He said quietly. "It's not that you're not enough, Wends, but everyone needs a best friend too. You have Bebe, Vicki has Kyle, Token has Craig...and I have Kenny. He's the one I'd talk to about this kind of thing, but I can't because he's the one that's gone. So it kind of sucks."

Wendy bit her lip. "Well, I may not be Kenny...but you could give me a shot."

"I think I just did." Stan admitted.

"And how do you feel?"

"... A little lighter."

She smiled knowingly. "That's 'cause you shared the burden, Stan. And that's what being together's really about. You have to share your shit, or else you can't totally trust each other, and if you don't do that, you follow your superhero boyfriend to the park, shoot the villain, and get hit by a car."

He'd never really thought about it like that. "I thought Kenny and Vicki were the super couple."

"No one's perfect, Stan."

That was true enough. "...I think that even if Kenny's...even if he doesn't come back, we should build the house for Vicki anyways. He would want that."

Wendy nodded in agreement. "That's really sweet, Stan."

"I'd build a house for you, you know, but then I'd just be copying Kenny, and that would be really lame."

"Going to Columbia with you will be good enough for now."

Stopping in the middle of the side walk, Stan took both Wendy's hands in his. "Wendy, I don't have a ring, or a big fancy ceremony, or any of the stuff that Vicki and Kenny had. But I'm gonna promise you that I'm always gonna love you, for better or worse. You're the only girl I've ever really wanted to be with, and that's never gonna change."

Wendy smiled up at him softly. "I love you too. And I promise that I always will."

If there was one thing that Kenny had kept showing them since he convinced them that he died, it was that life was too short not to take the time to say it. 'I love you. I don't ever want to live without you. You changed my life.' There was too much uncertainty not to say it, because it might all be gone tomorrow.

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _Remember when we were such fools_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

"...And so we let him go one last time, into the hands of our Lord forever."

After a month, they had all decided it was time; Kenny wasn't coming back. So Vicki was sitting there in the front row, staring at the casket that held the remains of her fiancé. He was gone. That was all she could think about, that he was gone. Never in her worst nightmares in the seven years they'd been together, had she expected him to be taken from her like this... And by that Goddamn heroin addict brother of his!

Beside her, Kyle was holding her hand tightly, and she let him. He was trying to comfort her, or at least be the one that she could hold on to. If she didn't think too much about it, she could pretend for half a moment that it was Kenny's hand in hers, and someone else—anyone else—in the casket. It could be Cartman again, or Craig, or even Kyle... It was horrible to think, but it was the truth. She would have rather had her best friend dead than her fiancé.

"...I'd now like to call up Vicki to give the Eulogy speech." Father Maxi concluded.

Gettin up, Vicki felt her body move automatically to the front, and she took a moment to stare at the picture of Kenny resting on the casket. It was the last one she'd taken of him—the day he'd finished the plans for the house. She'd been so proud of him, she'd made sure to get a picture of him holding up the plans, grinning like an idiot. Seeing it now broke her heart.

Turning around, she faced them all—the entire town, same as it had supposed to have been for the wedding they'd been planning for three months from now. They were all there, their friends, their families, their acquaintances, and their pseudo enemies. She could even see Eric Cartman's grave just a few meters away! Her entire life for the past seven years was here, watching her world fall apart. Watching her fall apart.

"The past seven years with Kenny, have been some of the most difficult and most incredible years I've known. Because no matter how often Kenny died, and no matter how often I woke up in the hospital because of Eric Cartman, we were together, and we had each other. I loved Kenny more than anything, and I know he was hoping to spend the rest of his life being the best husband and father he could be. And now he doesn't get to do that, because some bastards his brother got in trouble with decided killing him would be a good idea.

"You see, life is not fair, and God is not just. Because Kenny spent his whole life bouncing between Heaven, Hell and Here, and _not once_ did Kenny decide to quit, or not get out of bed, or even just stop living. Kenny had more life in him than any of us, and he made us live when we didn't want to. He made me believe in love when I had lost mine; he made me complete again. He made me so happy...

"I loved Kenny more than anything in the world, and I don't know how I'm supposed to live without him. But I always knew this day would come—when Kenny wouldn't come back—and I accepted that when I gave him my heart and accepted his. He promised me forever once, and now I know that there really is no such thing. There's only now. But I know right now, I can't give up. I just have to let you go, Ken. That's all I can do, until we meet again."

Stepping down, Vicki felt like a light inside her had flickered out. She'd finally accepted wholly that he was gone, and not coming back. Resuming her seat, she let Kyle put his arm around her shoulders as they watched the casket be lowered into the ground. A couple of seats over, Wendy was sobbing into Stan's shoulder, and Butters was crying quietly with Jason, who's arms were wrapped protectively around him. On the other side of the aisle, Carol and Karen were holding each other, as Kevin stared into the air in front of him, ghostly pale except for his red-rimmed eyes.

Father Maxi droned out the last of the funerary rites, and then it was over. They all began to quietly disperse, heading back to the privacy of their homes to either mourn, or wonder why they'd come at all to see Kenny McCormick lowered into the ground. Until the only ones left were her and Kyle.

"I talked to my mom, and she wants you to move in with us for now." He said quietly. "It's not that you couldn't stay with Carol and Karen, but with Kevin there..."

They were afraid she'd murder him like she'd wanted to for weeks. Now she just hated him. "I couldn't do that to your family, Kyle—"

"You're part of my family too, and family look after each other."

"I'm gonna be a shitty houseguest."

"I don't care."

He would when she was locked in her room, staring at the wall and refusing to get out of bed. He would when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night. He would when she still couldn't figure out how to move on with her life. "I'll just apologize ahead of time then."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _And so convinced and just too cool_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

He found Vicki in the guest room—her room—when she didn't come down to dinner. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed and staring at the framed photograph in her hands. Kyle knew which one it was—the one from their promise ceremony—and he knew his mother had probably put it there trying to make her feel better. "Vic..?"

"I should have known better." She said, voice deadened and hollow. "If Matt's death taught me anything, it's that nothing's forever. So why the fuck did I believe..?"

Without warning, she flung the photograph against the wall, and it shattered. "It's not fucking right, Ky! We made it through Cartman trying to rape me, we made it through his parole hearing, we made it through The Coon, we made it through me almost dying... and it was his goddamn brother's dealers that did it. And that was the one time I wasn't there!"

Ignoring the glass on the floor, Kyle knelt down in front of Vicki, and pulled her into his arms. Vicki clung to him, sobbing against his chest. The same things she'd been doing all month. He'd become her anchor and armour—her protector. "it's not your fault, it's not Kevin's fault. It's those goddamn dealers' fault."

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Ky! I'm so fucking scared I can't do it on my own. I never thought that I would be having the baby without Kenny, and now—"

"Am I enough?"

She pulled away, shocked out of tears. "Kyle—?"

He grabbed both her hands and pulled them up to his heart. "I'm not Kenny—I know you don't love me, and I don't love you quite the same way he did. But I promised Kenny I would take care of you and the baby, and I'm gonna do that as best I can."

"Kyle, if you're gonna ask me what I think you're gonna ask me—"

"Please marry me, Vicki. It might not be like you dreamed, but we can get by."

She looked dismayed that he'd asked. "But what about your dreams? University, a career, _real_ love? You can't just...give it up."

You'd think she didn't understand. None of that mattered more than keeping his promise to Kenny, and making his best friend okay again. Not even the love. "I'd rather spend my life with my best friend."

She shook her head, staring past him and at the photograph lying among the broken glass. "If you say it's what Kenny would have wanted, I will punch your lights out."

"I won't say it then. And I'll wait however long you need to answer me."

Kyle made to stand up, but Vicki grabbed his hand tightly. "I can't do this alone."

That was all the answer he needed. "Do you want to keep the wedding date?" She nodded stiffly. "I'll let them know then."

Vicki said nothing, but let go of his hand. Kyle knew it must have broken her heart to do it, but he'd spend the rest of their life together making her believe she'd made the right choice. She'd probably never really love him, but like he'd said—they'd get by. They'd raise the baby together, and she'd be surrounded by their friends who loved her, and the sex would be good... It would be okay. It would be a life.

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _Oh no... no, no..._ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Bebe couldn't believe what she was hearing. "YOU'RE MARRYING VICKI?"

Of all the things her ex-boyfriend could have told her, that he was marrying Vicki was the last one she expected to hear when she'd stopped by to see them. And he'd told it to her with a smile on his face—like he was actually happy! What gave him the fucking right to be happy when Vicki had probably broken her heart by agreeing? What gave him the _right_ to ask?

"I know it's soon," He explained. "But the baby's not waiting, and the wedding's half-planned, and the house is being worked on. And Vicki's not ready for any of it, because all she can really focus on now is that Kenny's gone."

"Okay, I understand that, but _marrying_ her? Kyle, this isn't the fifties—you can live together without getting married."

"The whole town expects it."

The whole town... "The whole town used to expect you and Vicki to get together, and when that went nowhere, they all expected her and Kenny to spend the rest of their lives together. And in case you didn't notice, neither of those things happened. So even if they do expect you to marry Vicki, doesn't mean you actually should. In fact, you really shouldn't."

He didn't say anything, and Bebe knew what he was really thinking. "Oh my God...do you seriously think she's gonna fall in love with you? Because that's just fuckin' delusional, Kyle. She loves Kenny—she will always love Kenny. she might like you, she might share a bed with you, and knowing Vicki if she does both those, she's going to have sex with you. But she's never going to give her heart to you! Because she doesn't—"

"I KNOW!" He shouted. "I know, okay? But I can't just let her... I have to help Vicki somehow. And this is the best way for me to do that; by giving her stability, and a partner to raise the baby with. Kenny got fucked on that front, so I'm gonna pick up the pieces."

"But why should you be the one to do it?"

"Because I'm her best friend."

Like any of them believed that for a minute. "I'm going upstairs to talk to Vicki."

Bebe found her in the guest room, sitting on the bed and staring at the wall. "Hey..."

She didn't even blink. "Hey."

"Kyle told me the big news. Vicki, are you really going to marry him? Do you think Kenny would want—?"

"Who gives a fuck what Kenny would want? KENNY'S DEAD!" She screeched. "And he's not gonna know what the fuck's going on unless someone tells him in Heaven, or Hell, or wherever God decided to trap his soul for eternity. So what he wants doesn't fucking matter anymore, does it? He's gone, and we're still here! ALONE!"

And Kyle was going to make her feel less alone? "Vicki, I know it seems like the right thing to do now, but in five or ten years, are you going to be happy in a loveless marriage? Is Kyle?"

Vicki let out a dry, sarcastic laugh. "You think marriage is forever, Bebe? Nothing ever lasts in this world. Not family, not marriage, not love. We break apart and we die, and it took losing two men I loved to finally accept that. And considering your track record, I don't think you're in a place to judge what Kyle and I do with our lives."

That stung. "I tried to make it work with Token, and Kyle. Even though one didn't want me, and one only wanted me to make sure he was over you. I did my part. But if you marry Kyle, you're just giving up. And I have never seen you give up before. So that scares the shit out of me. It means you're broken, and I wonder whether or not you should even be keeping the baby."

Vicki looked like Bebe had slapped her. "That's the reason I'm doing this."

"Are you sure it isn't because you don't want to be alone?" Bebe countered.

"...Get out."

"You know it's true."

"GET OUT!"

Kyle came running just as Bebe stormed out of the room. "What happened?"

"I told her the truth and she didn't want to hear it." Bebe replied darkly. "And you know what, you two are both in fucking denial, so I think you're fucking perfect for each other. Go ahead and get married and be miserable together, Kyle. But three years from now, I will tell you 'I told you so'. Until then, fuck the both of you."

**

* * *

**

Bet you never thought Bebe would be the voice of reason. But I really wanted someone to point out to Vicki and Kyle the insanity of what they're doing, and even though Wendy would seem the obvious choice, Bebe's closer to Kyle and Vicki both.


	5. The Fifth

**The quote at the end of the first section is from _The Night Has A Thousand Eyes _by Francis William Bourdillon. You can also find it in _A Series of Unfortunate Even_****_ts: The End._**

* * *

"Oh Vicki, it's beautiful..."

She watched herself in the mirror as Sheila cooed over her. They were at the first fitting for the wedding dress. Grad was only a week away, but Vicki wasn't planning on going. She had too many other things to try to focus on rather than one more event she'd planned on having Kenny with her for...

"Obviously getting gold-ivory was a better choice than white." Sharon said dryly. She didn't really approve of her getting married to Kyle. But no one really did besides his parents, and oddly enough, Carol. She'd even come for the appointment.

"I think no modern woman can honestly wear white on her weddin' day, Sharon. Not even you. And I know that my grandbaby is gonna be a lot better off than if Vicki had moved in with Karen and me. Even if Kevin's gone back to Denver."

He'd left as soon as the funeral had been over, knowing that Vicki would probably hunt him down with Kenny's revolver that was still tucked in the box under the bed in the tree house. She wasn't too adverse to blowing his brains out, whether it was his fault Kenny was dead or not. Kevin was scum of the earth, who'd had the nerve to ask his mom for another hundred dollars to pay the same guys who'd killed his brother.

"Anything to say about the dress, Vicki?" Sheila asked gently.

"It's perfect..." She couldn't think of anything more to say. It was perfect, but everything else was wrong. "It just feels more real now."

The three older women nodded in understanding. They knew she meant that Kyle's asking her to marry him felt real. She'd been used to the idea of getting married since March. "Moses knows what will happen, Vicki." Sheila began. "But Kyle will always be there for you, just like he promised Kenny he would be. And he'll always be there for Kylie—just like he promised you he'd be."

"Vicki felt the first smile since Kenny had died twitch her lips. "You know it's not Kylie anymore. I'm naming her Kennedy, after her dad."

In the reflection of the mirror, she could see Carol's eyes welling up with tears. "Kennedy... it's a beautiful name, Vicki. And if she's anythin' like her father, you're gonna have your hands full."

"I hope she's just like him."

Sharon cracked a bit of a smile. "Just wait until she's about ten years old—you'll take that back."

"Kenny was always a handful." Sheila added. "But he was a good boy. He grew up to be a good man."

Vicki nodded, properly taking in the site of her Grecian style dress flowing over the beginnings of a real baby bump. If she closed her eyes, she could picture herself walking down the aisle in this dress. Even if it was Gerald giving her away.

"He grew up to be the most amazing man I've ever known."

Turning the younger woman to face her, Sheila rested both hands on her shoulders. "Vicki, I know you know that his soul's in Heaven, or Hell, or whichever God put him in. But Kenny is also here with you—in spirit. And that's the part that loves you, and always will. That's the part that's forever."

She felt a lump in her throat, and tears pricking her eyes. It wasn't true—she knew—but it was touching of Sheila to try. This woman cared about her like a mother would—like her mother should. "Thanks Sheila."

"You're welcome, honey. I know it's been extra hard to not have your mother here, and even though nobody can make up for her failings, I like to think I can make it a little better."

"We're here for ya." Carol added. "Right, Shar?"

Sharon nodded. "I guess it's a mother's thing to support you, even if we don't like your choices. I'm having a hard enough time with the idea of Stanley going all the way to New York for university."

"He's going because Wendy's going. And they're not going to be separated any time soon." Vicki said quietly. "I always said they called the wrong couple The Golden Couple."

"I don't know, Vic. I think you really had something special." Sheila replied, smoothing out the shoulders of the dress absently. "I really think you had it."

"So then what is she doing now?"

"Life goes on, Sharon. We keep breathing, moving, growing...with or without our love."

"Not really, Sheila." She didn't know what it was really like. '_The mind has a thousand eyes, and the heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies when love is done.'_

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I wish I could touch you again_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Butters sat making centerpieces with Vicki in heavy silence. She didn't want to talk about Kenny, or Kyle, or the wedding, or the baby, or Grad. Which left talking about useless things like the weather that didn't mean anything, or not talking at all. And he wasn't going to be a part of this cover-up of hers that 'everything was okay'. Because obviously nothing was okay—nothing was right. But if Vicki wasn't going to talk about it, he wasn't going to push her.

Finally, she set down the vase she'd been filling with pale gold tulle, and properly looked at him. "I know you think I'm making a mistake—everyone does. But I don't need to hear it from any more people. Yes, I loved Kenny; yes, I'm getting into this fast; yes, I know that Kyle's misguided in this one last attempt to win my heart. But none of that changes that we're getting married."

"I wasn't plannin' on sayin' any of that, Vicki. I just wanted to tell you that no matter what you do, I'm gonna support you. After all, I know what it's like to be judged."

"Oh." She'd been expecting to be attacked, because so far, that was all anyone who wasn't a Broflovski or a McCormick had done. Even Stan.

"You know, they probably don't hate what you're doin' as much as you think." Butters added. "They're all just tryin' to cope with losin' Kenny, same as you, but they look to you to show them that things will be okay. Really okay—not just pretend."

"I'm just doing the 'fake it 'til you make it' thing. Because I don't have a clue what I'm supposed to do. But I know that I have to figure something out, for Kennedy's sake."

"You will. You're a lot stronger than this. You've been through this before."

"There's only so many times you can, though, Butters." She sighed. "It feels like you're heart's been ripped out of your chest and replaced by a big piece of stone—heavy and cold."

"But then Kennedy's gonna be born." He reminded her. "And if I know you, Vicki, you're gonna put all your love for Kenny into that little girl, and she's gonna make it okay."

Vicki said nothing, just went back to filling vases as he cut tulle to go inside. But he could see that she looked a little lighter—a little happier. "You know, it could be worse. At least you know the sex will be okay."

Vicki smiled—a proper smile. "Thank God for that. Otherwise I'd have to cheat on my husband with that dick, Craig."

"Well the way I see it, if a guy's called a dick all the time, he has to know how to use it at least."

"Should Jason be called a dick then?"

That was the Vicki they all knew and loved. "He's too sweet to be a dick. He just uses it."

"I think you've got a keeper. Someone to love you, both sides of you."

"...If I could split him in half, I'd share him."

She shook her head. "Remember that I had twelve guys vying for my heart? Mind, one of them was you, one was crazy, two are gay together, one's practically married to Wendy, and one is just hung up on me. And I'm marrying him."

And just like that, the old Vicki was gone, replaced with the shell of Vicki they'd been living with for the past month and a half. "I never thought it'd end up like this, Butters."

"Well Donnie Darko said 'Every living creature on this earth dies alone.' Whether it's true or not..."

"You do realize that's just even more depressing."

He shrugged, "It's the best I've got."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I wish I could still call you friend_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

"Why the fuck are we still doing this?"

Stan looked up at Craig, who was framing walls—or had been before he'd thrown down his hammer in frustration and disillusionment. He'd been thinking the same thing. It was the day after grad, and they were out in the hot sun, working on the house Kenny'd planned to build Vicki. Not that any of them really felt like doing it anymore, since Vicki had agreed to marry Kyle. It didn't seem right that Kyle would live in the house Kenny had planned, and they had built. It was just wrong.

Token looked up from the plywood he was laying as the bare floor. "We're doing this 'cause it's Vicki, and Kenny would want us to."

"Kenny would want _Kyle_ living here?"

"He would want Vicki to be as happy as she can be. Even if she's marrying her best friend."

Clyde snorted. "And how's she supposed to be happy when she wakes up next to a guy she doesn't love every morning?"

"What about—GAH!—fucking?" Tweek piped up. "OH MY GOD, WOULD THEY EVEN?"

Craig shook Tweek's shoulders a bit to calm him down. "Dude, She and Kyle did it once; fifty bucks says they do it again."

"There's no point to a bet where no one opposes you." Clyde pointed out.

"There's no point to building this house!"

"Then why the fuck are you here, Tucker?"

"Because I said I'd be, Black."

"You are such a dick—"

"TOO MUCH PRESSURE—!"

Stan couldn't take it anymore. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He hollered, climbing up into the bed of Jimbo's truck (which seemed to be with them more than Jimbo now) so he could be seen by the others. "You guys, this isn't about Kyle, or Vicki, or any of that shit! Maybe it was our wedding present before, but now it's something bigger. Let's make this house into our tribute to a fuckin' good friend. Let's finish what Kenny started."

They all nodded in agreement, and went back to work as Stan jumped down from the truck. He went back to laying floor with Token. "Stan, do you really believe a word of that shit?"

"Hell no. I just wanted you guys to shut up and get back to working on this, because I promised Kenny I would."

"...You are an ass hole sometimes."

"Gotta make up for not having Cartman anymore."

"Yeah..." Token smirked. "Bet if the fat ass was here right now, he'd be trying to direct this shit, fucking up the plans and sitting on his ass, telling us to 'respect his authori-tah'."

Stan couldn't hold back a laugh at that. "Dude, you missed out on the day he kept saying shit was hella-cool, or hella-lame, or hella-whatever. We totally wanted to send him to an evil parallel universe."

"...Is it fucked up to kinda miss him?"

"He was a crazy, racist, fucked up ass hole, but he was our friend since we were little kids. It's not fucked up to miss him."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I'd give, anything..._ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Kyle couldn't help feeling awkward as he stood in front of Kenny's grave. It had only seemed right, when he'd first thought of it, to come and tell him about the wedding. But now that he was actually here...

"Hey dude. I'm still holding out on that promise I made you. I'm looking after Vicki as good as I can. She's not making it easy... I guess I can't really blame her. I don't know what I'd do if the person I'd been planning to spend the rest of my life loving died. I'd probably just give up—Vicki doesn't even get that option. She has the baby to think about too. And the one thing she is doing is making plans... like renaming the baby Kennedy, after you.

"And we're making some plans together, too. Because I promised you I'd take care of her, and I promised Vicki I'd help take care of the baby when I agreed to be her Godfather. So I'm doing it the best I can. You're probably not gonna like this, dude... but I asked Vicki to marry me, and she said yes. So we're going ahead with the wedding, just with a different groom."

He felt stupid, because the slab of granite in front of him couldn't hear him, and the mouldering corpse below him couldn't answer him. Kenny wasn't here—he was in Heaven, or Hell, or whichever. The point was he wasn't here, so talking to his grave was kinda pointless. And it wasn't making him feel any better about the situation either.

"I'm sorry man. It's not that I'm trying to take your place. I know what everyone's saying—that this is me just trying to guilt Vicki into loving me—but I swear it's not. I love Vicki—I'm always gonna love her in one way or another—but I know she's never going to love me as more than a close friend. In that way I've grown up, not that anyone sees it. But I'm not the only one in this—Vicki accepted. So it's not just me."

There were no answers for him here; the words on Kenny's new headstone weren't even meant for him. 'I Shall But Love Thee Better After Death' could only be for Vicki. The one he'd loved. The one who'd loved him. The one everyone was accusing him of stealing away, even though you couldn't steal a man's girl when he was six feet under—

"Came for a visit, Kyle?"

He whirled around, surprised to see Karen McCormick there. Well, not really surprised—she was Kenny's sister. But he still hadn't expected her there. "Thought I'd try it. But Kenny's not really here."

She shrugged, sitting down on the grass. "I don't think it matters if he's here. If you need ta talk ta him, you talk ta him."

"And what if you're looking for an answer?"

"Then you're better off prayin' in church, or wherever."

Praying? "Kar, didn't Kenny tell you praying doesn't work worth jackshit?"

"You think he knew everythin'? Just because a guy talks ta God, doesn't mean he knows everythin' God's up ta."

Huh, smart kid. Mind, she was thirteen by now—not exactly a kid anymore. "You believe he would hear me if I asked?"

"Don't matter what I believe; you've gotta believe."

"And if I don't?"

She shrugged, kneeling down in front of Kenny's grave like it wasn't a grave. "Then I feel pretty shitty for ya, Kyle. If ya don't believe in somethin', you've got nothin'."

**

* * *

**

I don't really know why Karen showed up at the end of this chapter. I guess because I liked writing her in Fall Of Coon and felt that Kyle wasn't feeling the 'talking to Kenny's grave' thing.


	6. The Sixth

**There's not much to say**

* * *

"I'm sorry Vicki."

Bebe waited on the Broflovski's doorstep for Vicki to say something. She'd gotten past being angry with the other girl's choices, now that she could see them a little clearer. This wasn't a betrayal of Kenny by any means—it was her way of surviving. It had just been harder for her to accept than Butters, or Wendy, or Stan, because she didn't know how it felt. She didn't know what it was like to love someone so much that losing them made your whole world fall apart. So it had taken her a little while to come around, but she had.

"What's there to be sorry for? You were right."

The blonde shook her head. "There's a difference between being correct and being right. It was wrong of me to say those things to you. You weren't in a good place; you're _still_ not in a good place. But you're in a better one, and I understand it a little better."

"You don't have to understand. All you need to do is accept."

"Then that's what I've done."

Vicki nodded, and opened the door wider. "You wanna come in and see what I've been working on?"

Bebe nodded and followed her friend into the Broflovski's dining room, where a sea of pale gold awaited them. "With all this time on my hands, I've been able to get centerpieces, swags, gifts, and all the things I can do here done. The bridesmaid dresses are in too, if you wanna try yours on."

"Wendy should be here for that, so we can do it together."

She shrugged, and moved some parchment cuttings off a chair to clear a place to sit. "You're cool with Wendy being Maid of Honour, right? Because Stan's the best man..."

"It's fine." Bebe assured her. "I think it makes it easier. Who's the other groom's man?"

"Butters. It was supposed to be Kyle, originally..."

"You don't need to say it."

They sat together in silence, Vicki absently rubbing a hand over the baby. Though obviously pregnant, she was still smaller than they'd all expected. But that might have had something to do with all the time she'd spent mourning. "Vicki, did you tell your parents?"

"No. I'm not planning on it either." She scowled. "It'll be just one more thing they were right about, because they 'always knew that McCormick boy was a flake'. Like dying trying to help your family makes you a flake."

"I think they deserve to know—"

"They gave up the right to know when they made me choose between them and Kenny! And it wasn't hard to choose, either, because I knew what I wanted, and it wasn't them."

Bebe wished she hadn't asked. Vicki's parents were always a sore spot with her. There weren't many people she hated more. Even Cartman had gotten some of her sympathy in the end. "They thought it was a schoolyard crush. They wanted to go back to their friends and family."

"But I'm their family—I'm their _daughter_!"

"And how much time did you even spend with them while they were here for three years?"

Vicki opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She knew the truth was that she hadn't spent time with them. It had all been avoiding their questions and sneaking out to be with Kenny. Always, she'd chosen Kenny over them. And the scary thing—the thing they'd known—is that Kenny wasn't going to be forever. But they'd always be her parents. Emancipated or not.

"Why does everyone think it's their job to point out where I've gone wrong?" She asked, sounding almost beaten down.

"I don't know, Vicki. Maybe it's because we can see where you're wrong better than you can."

"Well, I think I don't really need to worry about that anymore. With no more love to cloud my judgement, and Kyle probably micro-managing my life...how am I going to go wrong?"

Bebe shrugged. "There's always being a mother."

"I'm going to have super-Jew-mother as my mother-in-law." Vicki reminded her. "And if Ike's anything to go by, she's not going to have a problem spoiling someone else's child rotten."

"You're not naming Kyle as the father on the birth certificate?"

"Why would I when everyone knows it's Kenny?"

Another shrug. "I guess I was thinking legal stuff."

She sighed. "Well Kyle can adopt Kennedy legally..."

Bebe caught site of an envelope from Town Hall peeking out from underneath a stack of menus. "You got the marriage certificate already?"

"No, no..." Vicki pulled it out, and handed it to her. "When I went to apply for the new one, Linda gave me the one Kenny got for us. She said they didn't need to shred it, because they already had Kenny's death certificate, so I could have it."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Kyle suggested I bring it to the wedding, and when we sign our certificate, I could write something across the signature lines. Something like 'Goodbye'."

Bebe nodded in agreement. "I think that would be your closure, Vicki. I think it would be really important."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _When someone said count your blessings now, 'fore they're long gone_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

"Stan, why the fuck is there a dead end at the back of the kitchen?"

Rather than answer Clyde, Stan just ripped the plans out of his hands. "Why the fuck would I know—I didn't plan it."

"Well it's actually your kitchen." He reminded him.

"Yeah, but in my house, that's the back door. But Kenny did his alterations, for whatever reason—"

"Because if or when they needed more room, Kenny was going to knock out that wall, and build on an addition with a hallway and a couple of bedrooms." They both turned to see Kyle ambling up the dirt road they'd been making with Jimbo's truck. "Hey guys."

"KYLE?" Tweek shrieked from the other side of the site. "What are you DOING here?"

"Yeah, you're supposed to getting shit done for your _wedding_." Craig spat.

Stan could see that Kyle was pissed off by this welcome. But rather than having an outburst like he would have had even four years ago, he climbed up into the bed of the truck, and made sure he had their attention.

"I know you guys are pissed off at me, and I've realized I've got some explaining to do. You think I'm betraying Kenny by marrying Vicki, but four years ago, I promised Kenny I'd take care of her. I failed—she got hurt—so I felt I needed to keep working on that promise. And then when they came to tell me Vicki was pregnant, she asked me to be the godfather. That means taking care of that little girl growing inside the woman I've already promised both Kenny and myself I would take care of. So when Kenny died, and left her broken—and you know that's what Vicki was—I knew I had to try to pick up the pieces.

"So yeah, I'm marrying her. She's gonna live with me and my parents until this house is finished, or longer if she doesn't want to live here. That's up to her. And my mom's gonna help raise Kennedy as well as she raised me and Ike. And even though I know Vicki and I aren't a couple—aren't ever _meant to be_ a couple—we're going to make this work somehow."

They looked sufficiently cowed. Craig was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, Token was avoiding looking at Kyle, Tweek had stopped twitching, and Clyde looked like he was about to cry. Stan couldn't help but admit he felt kinda lousy too, and he _knew_ about that stuff. But he'd still felt it was too fast, and with Kyle and Vicki's history...he'd made a few assumptions.

"...So..." Token said after a long silence. "Is there anything else we should know about the house?"

That was what it took to break the tension, and then they were right back into it, arguing over the kitchen, and if it should be partitioned off from the living area. Stan, of course, wanted to follow Kenny's plan to the letter, while Token couldn't see why they needed a wall. Craig was playing Devil's Advocate and being a nuisance, Clyde was going along with his boyfriend, and Tweek...was freaking out under '_Too much pressure!_'. Which left Kyle to form an opinion.

"You know there's a compromise, right? We could build a half-wall, so that you can see the living area from that part of the kitchen, but still run the electrical for the outlets Kenny wanted there."

They all stared at him. "Dude, why the fuck didn't we think of that?" Stan asked, smacking himself in the forehead.

"Because you have too many jocks, and not enough geeks." Kyle deadpanned.

"Since when is Tweek a jock?" Craig smirked. "He's just a spaz."

"Arrrh! I'm NOT a spaz!" Tweek protested. "Or am I? Oh my God, what if I am a spaz? What if I've been in denial this whole time? WHAT IF I'M CRAZY?"

"Tweek!" Craig snapped his fingers in front of his best friend's face. "Calming breaths dude, just take calming breaths. You're not crazy."

It was only after Tweek had calmed down some, that Craig seemed to notice they had everyone's attention. "What the fuck are you guys staring at?"

Stan shrugged. "Probably the gayest thing I've ever seen from two straight guys.

Craig went for his default response—he flipped him off.

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I guess I just didn't know how, I was all wrong_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

She couldn't help feeling a little jealous, Wendy decided. After all, who wouldn't be jealous of a house when their boyfriend was spending all his time with it, working on it, neglecting her...

That was the mindset she carried as she walked down the muddy trail of tire tracks that served as the 'road' in to the site. She needed to either put an end to this, or at least get Stan to hear how she felt about it. It wasn't good for him to be working all day on a house he didn't ever plan on living in, and going to bed as soon as he got home; too tired to even call her to sleep over.

But she understood it too. It was his way of getting past being sad and angry about Kenny, and the upcoming wedding, and leaving everything to go to New York with her. It was harder for him—she'd never gotten quite as close to Kenny and Vicki as he had—but it had to happen too. They had to move on with their lives.

Nearing the site, she could hear the guys yelling at each other. Shit; she was probably about to walk into a screaming match between them, where everything came out and they beat the mourning out of each other.

"_Kyle's right you fucktards!"_ That was Clyde for sure—she never heard Craig raise his voice like that.

"_Arrrh! But what if it doesn't work? WE COULD DIE!"_ Definitely Tweek.

Entering the clearing, she expected to see them at each other's throats. Instead, they were standing around Kyle, who was holding the folder known as the 'Master Plan' in his hands. "I swear to God, you guys, this will work. Kenny wrote it down here, so it's gotta be right."

"You trust a guy, who was known for dying, with your life?" Craig looked like he was debating Kyle's sanity.

Wendy decided they wouldn't notice her unless she spoke up. "It's going to work, whatever it is, because Kenny was the best builder we knew."

They all turned to look at her. "Wendy, what are you doing here?" Stan asked.

"Finding out what's so Goddamn special about the house that you're always over here working on it."

She had to admit, it was pretty impressive so far. The house rested on thick support beams resting on concrete footings. The outside walls were up, and what she could see of them was covered in thick, waterproof tar paper. There wasn't a roof yet, though, only blue plastic sheeting draped over the framework. "What are you guys arguing about anyways?"

Token cleared his throat importantly. "See how the roof's nothing but framework? Kenny was planning on using one by eight planks to provide the roof base layer, staring from the edge and working his way up, so they would support weight as he went. "These idiots," he pointed to Stan, Craig, and Tweek, "think that we should use plywood first, because they don't trust their own nail guns."

"I do!" Stan insisted. "It's just that another layer would keep it warmer..."

"Stan, of course, doesn't realize that we'll be putting in insulation and another interior layer of planks."

"The plywood's also cheaper." Craig added. "And we've only got like half the money left from The Mole."

Wendy could feel a headache coming on. "It's cheaper, but kind of useless. Go with the planks." Wait, why was she helping them solve their problems with the house when she was supposed to be getting Stan away from it? "Stan, do you think you could take a few days off from this?"

"Why?"

"Because I hardly ever see you."

He thought for a second. "You could help. We could make you in charge of the Master Plan. Kyle's been trying, but he doesn't have the authority."

Kyle punched him in the arm. "You make it sound like we need Cartman and his 'authori-tah'."

"...He would've been really good at this." Stan admitted. "If it wasn't Kenny and Vicki's house."

They all nodded solemnly. No one wanted to be the one to say it, but they missed Cartman too. Nowhere near as much as Kenny, but he'd been their friend of sorts, and he'd had his uses. Hell, even Wendy missed him at times; when your rival was gone, you lost that person you competed against. She'd tried thinking of Kyle as her rival, but it hadn't been the same. Kyle didn't antagonize her the was Cartman had.

"Know what? I'll stay, but on Friday, you and I are taking the day off and going to a movie Stan. Okay?"

He saluted her. "Yes, Ms. Forman ma'am."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _They knew better, still you said forever_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Kyle couldn't help feeling helpless as he sat in the kitchen. Things weren't going as he'd expected. Instead of making he and Vicki closer, this wedding seemed to be driving them apart. They hardly talked, and when they did it wasn't alone. She was always going off to either a wedding appointment, or a baby one, or working in the dining room, or hiding in her room. It was like she was avoiding him. How were they supposed to be partners and parents?

"What's wrong, Bubbe?" Oh great; his mom had found him.

"Nothing's wrong." He lied. "I'm just tired from working on the house with the guys today."

Sheila sat herself down across from her son. "You know you're a terrible liar in the first place, and an even worse one when it comes to lying to your mother. What is it that's bothering you?"

"...How are Vicki and I supposed to be in this together when I hardly get a minute alone with her?"

"You knew when you asked her to marry you that it wasn't going to be a romance. She's still trying to sort out how she feels, and part of that might be that she feels guilty that she's taking the chance to have what she and Kenny had away from you."

"I never wanted that."

She shrugged. "Well, it was hard to guess what would happen. You took a chance."

"And it backfired." Kyle added. "And now I don't know if we're even best friends."

Sheila gave her son a long, searching look. "You're still best friends. Once the wedding is over, and the dust has settled, you'll be able to see that. And I think you'll both be glad for it, because being married to your best friend is easier than being married to whoever you're having a child with."

"You mean Vicki and Kenny?"

"I mean Kenny's parents. I can tell you right now that Stuart and Carol had a literal shot-gun wedding after Carol's dad found out she was pregnant with Kevin. He went barrelling down to Stuart's shack, and rammed that shot-gun right under his chin, saying 'you had enough balls to get her pregnant, now have enough balls to marry her, else I'll blow them off with buckshot.'"

Kyle gulped. Good thing he'd always been one for 'caution'. "Weren't you in Newark when that happened, Ma? 'Cause Kevin's like three years older than me."

She chuckled. "Carol used to love telling that story all the time. Probably because it pissed Stuart off so bad."

He guessed the situation with Vicki could be a lot worse. They weren't going to resent each other or the baby the rest of their lives. They'd eventually get over it all. Things would get better. "...Thanks Ma."

"Any time, Bubbe. It's what I'm here for."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _And ever... who knew?_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

"Hey Kenny."

It felt weird, and a little stupid, to be standing in the graveyard talking to Kenny's grave. But everyone else seemed to have done it at least once—Butters came once a week, and even Stan had been with Wendy once. So they all kept telling her to come and just tell Kenny about everything, so she could feel better about the wedding. Vicki doubted it would work...

"Nothing's the same since you left. Stan and the guys have thrown themselves into the house, Sheila's been driving me distracted with fussing over me—though I expected it when I moved into Kyle's—and Kyle..."

The words caught in her throat, but she forced them out in a rough whisper. "Kyle asked me to marry him, Ken... I said yes. I can't do it alone, and Kyle's here. Kyle cares..."

Kyle cared too much. But not the way Kenny had. "When you said it would be the last time you went to Kevin's rescue, I never expected this. Why did that have to be the first promise you broke, Ken? Why'd you promise it at all?"

She felt her knees buckle, and sank to the ground, hands resting on the smooth granite marker. "You left me! When everything was going right, and we were making plans, you left! And now it's all gone to shit, and I'm marrying Kyle next week when it was supposed to be you!"

Tears slipped down her face and moistened the cool stone. "And I can scream and cry at your grave, and at Heaven, all I like but it's not going to bring you back. Nothing's bringing you back, Ken."

She must have looked crazy; this pregnant girl kneeling on a grave, crying and talking to no one. But Vicki couldn't bring herself to care. They all knew anyways. There wasn't a soul in South Park that didn't know how they'd been the perfect young lovers starting a family, until he'd been torn away forever. There wasn't a soul in South Park that didn't know how the wedding was still on, with Kyle Broflovski replacing the groom. There wasn't a soul in South Park who knew just how much it had broken her to accept his proposal.

"I'm gonna have to do it, Ken. I can't let my life stop because you're gone, because Kennedy's gonna need her mom. I'm the one who's going to tell her about her dad, because anyone could tell her what a horn-dog you were, but only I know just how fuckin' amazing you were outside the sack. You were my everything, but now that that's over its gonna be her.

"And as far as Kyle and I go... he and I will get by. We'll go through the motions, I think, of marriage. The sex will be good, we'll talk about everything...it'll be the same as being married to your best friend with benefits. And that's all he'll ever be to me, Kenny. No matter how deeply he'll think he's fallen in love with me, no matter how many years I share his bed. Kyle's my best friend—you're my love. I'm never gonna forget that."

Getting up, she brushed the dirt from her knees. "I promise."

_I'll keep you locked in my head, until we meet again_

_I won't forget you my friend... what happened?_

**

* * *

**

I still cry every time I read the end of this chapter


	7. The Seventh

**The big day...**

* * *

Stan was a little concerned for his friend. "You sure you're alight dude?"

"I'm fine."

Kyle didn't look fine. He looked like he was about to lose his breakfast from nerves. Not that Stan blamed him—it was his wedding day. In a few hours, he was going to be married. "If you wanna go barf, do it before we leave for the church. I mean, I know I'm the barf-guy between us, but you look..."

Kyle shook his head, and turned back to knotting his tie in Stan's mirror. He'd been woken up early, almost force-fed breakfast by his mother, and kicked out so he wouldn't see the bride before the ceremony. He could handle a little nervous nausea.

"So ready to go promise to love Vicki forever?" Stan asked, latching on to another topic, hoping to get more than two words out of Kyle at a time.

Green eyes narrowed at him in the mirror. "That's not part of the wedding, dude."

"Did you write your own vows?"

"No."

"Then it's part of the wedding."

"Well, no one actually _means _it."

He felt like saying 'Kenny and Vicki would have meant it.' but held back. That would be just cruel, and Stan didn't want to be that. But he knew that Father Maxi was going to have them say the standard vows 'Do you, (name), take (name), to be your wife/husband, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?' and he hated that they were both going to lie. Hated more that everyone knew they were lying, and yet would probably never get divorced because Kyle and Vicki were exactly the type to stay together because they were too stubborn about proving everyone wrong.

"If I marry Wendy, I'm gonna mean it." Stan said instead.

Kyle yanked his tie tight. "Good for you, Stan. I'm gonna lie, but at least I'm doing it for a good reason. And I'm gonna be married to my best friend, raising a beautiful daughter with her. Maybe not a fairy tale ending, but better than letting Vicki go through this shit alone."

"I know. And if it couldn't be Kenny who marries Vicki...I'm glad it's you."

"You'd think she was your sister or something."

Stan shrugged. "She's more like a sister than Shelley."

"That's because Shelley's a bitch." Kyle reminded him. "Remember how she used to smack us around as kids?"

He remembered. Back when they'd been young, and always having some sort of adventure, and had holes in their memories because they didn't know yet that Kenny died. He remembered when people had said 'Stan and Kyle' in one breath, like they were one person, they were that close. "I'm sorry we're not really Super Best Friends anymore, dude."

"I'm sorry too, Stan."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _If someone said three years from now, you'd be long gone_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Gerald could see that his soon-to-be daughter-in-law wasn't half as happy as she should have been on her wedding day. "Wanna talk about it, Vicki?"

She turned away from her reflection in the mirror. "It's okay, Gerald."

It obviously wasn't okay. Vicki looked beautiful in a Grecian style wedding gown that was all pleats and flowing fabric that skimmed over the roundness that was Kennedy. But behind the subtle make-up there was an emptiness in her smile, and a sadness in her eyes. She was hurting, and she didn't want them to see how much. "You know, it's not too late to change your mind."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because even I know you don't really want to marry Kyle."

Vicki shrugged. "We're good together."

He knew that much. Everyone in South Park knew about Kyle and Vicki's one time hook up. Sheila had blown a gasket when she learned it had been under her roof. But Gerald also knew that being good together physically didn't mean you could live together. At least, not without resentment and bad feelings.

"You're not great together. Not the way you and—"

"You don't need to say it. In fact, if I hear one more person say something along the lines of 'you and Kyle aren't you and Kenny' I think I will scream."

He would have thought she was being sarcastic, but with pregnant women you never knew. He'd found that out when Sheila had been pregnant with Kyle. "Okay, I won't say it. But not only do you know it's true, but you also know there's still time to call off the wedding. And none of us will blame you for doing it."

For someone who looked like they were about to run away, Vicki was pretty stubborn. "I told Kyle I'd marry him; I'm not going back on that promise. There have been too many broken promises as it is."

Gerald knew a lost cause when he saw one. "Okay. Then let's get you to the church before Sheila starts thinking I've run away with the bride. Between you and me, she's almost as paranoid as that Tweek kid."

"Tweek's just borderline psychotic. Carol's a whole other kind of animal."

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _I'd stand up and punch them out, 'cause they're all wrong, and-_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Kenny had never felt so stiff in his life. It was the same sensation as when your foot fell asleep—all over his body. Cracking open his eyes, he winced against the sun shining through the window and shut them tight. Shit that was bright. One thing he had noticed, was that he was in his old room at his mom's house. That was kinda odd. But maybe Vicki was staying with her. He knew he'd taken a bit more time coming back...

"_KENNY?"_

His eyes flew back open at his mother's scream. She was standing in the doorway, clutching the vacuum, pale and shaking, and staring at him like he was a ghost. "Mom, what the fuck?"

"You were dead!"

No shit. Fuck, he remembered every moment of those thugs bashing his head into the pavement. "Yeah... how long was I gone, a week?"

She shook her head, and hesitantly came to kneel at the side of his bed, and ran a trembling hand down the side of his face, like she was making sure he was real. "Three months. We buried you. I can't believe I remember buryin' you, Kenny..."

Three months? Anything could have happened in three months. Vicki could have gone back to Arizona, she could have lost the baby, she could have died— "Where's Vicki?"

His mom didn't seem to hear his question. "Kenny, I _remember_! I never remember you dyin'; Vicki's the only one who _ever _does. But I remember...I remember puttin' my baby boy in the ground, and watchin' Vicki say goodbye to the man she loved, and now—"

She broke off suddenly, and Kenny felt cold dread settle in his chest. "Mom, what's happened to Vicki?"

"She started livin' with the Broflovskis and then Kyle asked her to marry him. She told him yes, and they decided to just go on with the weddin' everyone was already plannin'. They—they're at the church now."

They were at the church, they were about to get married, and he'd just woken up from being dead...

"SHIT, I'VE GOTTA GO!"

ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ _That last kiss I'll cherish, until we meet again_ ЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖЖ

Vicki didn't even hear the wedding march starting up, she just started walking when Gerald did. Almost the entire town was there to watch her marry Kyle—to get up in front of them all and say she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And she was going to lie, because all she really wanted was to be marrying her true love today...

Gerald must have noticed her tears through her veil, because he squeezed her hand comfortingly, before handing her off to Kyle, and Father Maxi started up. "We are gathered here today, to join these two young people in marriage..."

Kyle was smiling at her nervously, green eyes alight behind his fringe of copper curls. He was happy; happy to be marrying her, and she wasn't. She wanted it to be Kenny holding her hands, and smiling at her, laughter dancing in those clear blue eyes that were etched into her heart. But instead, she was miserable on her wedding day.

"...Now if anyone should know of any reason why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Father Maxi paused, and for one heart-stopping moment, Vicki thought maybe someone—anyone—would stand up and object. Butters, or Bebe, or Craig, Clyde, Millie, Jason, _anyone_. Anyone to say that Kenny—only Kenny— was her true love, and that she'd never be happy with Kyle. Anyone to save her; to stop her...

"If there are no objections, we shall move on to the vows." Father Maxi continued. "Do you, Kyle, take Vicki to be your wife, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

Kyle's smile didn't falter. "I do."

"Do you, Vicki, take Kyle to be your husband, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

"I—" The word caught in her throat. "I..." She could feel everyone's eyes on her. All of them expecting her to smile, and lie, and say the words that meant that she'd abandoned her heart. "I..."

He'd finally stopped smiling. "Vicki?"

She tried again. "I..."

Now Father Maxi was looking confused and concerned. "Victoria?"

"I..." Kenny was dead.

"I..." Kenny was never coming back.

"I..." Kenny was—

"WAIT!"

The doors to the church had flung open, and there was Kenny; orange hoodie, and faded jeans, and golden hair, and blue eyes. "Kenny..."

Running up to the front of the church, Kenny took her hands from Kyle. "I object! Because the bride is the girl I love, and she's carrying our baby, and I'm never gonna leave them again."

Vicki had no words. With one hand, she lifted her veil. She knew that despite the tear tracks still shining on her face, she was smiling wide enough for the entire town to see. Before crashing her lips into his.

"YEAH KENNY!" Craig hollered from the back of the crowd, and the whole town began to cheer as they broke the kiss, and Kenny rested his forehead against hers. "God told me that was the last time I'd leave you." He whispered. "Now, I'm all yours, for the rest of our lives."

He stepped back, and then Vicki remembered where she was; at the altar, with Kyle, and Father Maxi about to marry them. But it was Kyle she was concerned with. Kyle, who looked nowhere near as devastated as she'd expected. "Ky—"

"No way could I ask you to choose me over Kenny." He turned to the priest. "Father Maxi, I think you'd better start over, with another groom."

Kenny's eyes widened alarmingly. "But Kyle—!"

"You were supposed to be getting married today anyways, dude."

Stepping down, he pushed them both up in front of Father Maxi. "Do we even have a marriage certificate?" Kenny asked.

"They didn't shred it. Linda gave it to me, and I had Sheila bring it. I was planning on writing 'Goodbye' on it before signing the other one." It had seemed so stupid at the time too.

Father Maxi cleared his throat. "We are very blessed today, to witness the reunion, and marriage, of these two young people. Despite the hardships they've faced, they have never stopped loving each other, together or apart. Now, if anyoneknows a reason why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever, and I mean _forever,_ hold your peace."

Who in their right mind would object? Father Maxi looked relieved when no one said a word. "Do you, Kenny, take Vicki to be your wife, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you, Vicki, take Kenny to be your husband, to love and to cherish, forever and ever, until death do you part?"

No hesitation. This was all she'd ever wanted. "I do."

Father Maxi smiled. "Then I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

_My darling... who knew?_

* * *

Kenny always comes back.


	8. The Eighth and The End

**Okay, so this is thefirst birth I've written, and I may be dead-wrong about how it goes. But I had to bring Kylie into the world.**

* * *

If there was one thing Kyle could not stand after the past ten years of his life, it was hospitals. He'd had chicken pox in them, he'd had haemorrhoids in them, he'd had kidney failure in them. He'd watched his friends get sick, and get better, and he'd watched Kenny die a few times too. Never had he gone to the hospital for a good thing. And if you didn't know why Vicki was screaming bloody murder in the next room, you've thought this was the same thing.

Apparently the miracle of childbirth was not so beautiful as people made it out to be.

"Dude, what are they doing to her in there?" Stan asked, looking shaken. He and Wendy had come back from New York when they'd set a date for them to induce labour. Part of it was because of them, part of it was because the doctor had recommended it for a first time young mother, and partly because if they waited any longer, Kylie could have ended up sharing her mother's birthday.

"They aren't doing anything to her, dude." Kenny explained. "It's just the contractions, and the baby stretching out Vicki's cervix to four inches across."

"Did you actually read those birthing books my mom gave you?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"No, Vicki just summed them up for me. I've been pretty busy."

That was true; he'd gotten his job back, and they'd finally finished the house enough to move into, though they still needed to paint walls and add more furniture and shit. But it was done. Vicki could bring Kylie home to a house her parents' friends had built with love.

As soon as Vicki and Kenny had come out of their week of 'honeymoon' holing up in his room, they had spilled the beans to their friends about naming the baby Kylie Stacey McCormick. Kyle had had three and a half months to try to convince the couple to name her after someone else, but they insisted she was going to be Kylie—named after her Godfather who'd almost married her mother.

Marjorine and Jason came back carrying cups of steaming hot coffee, and a paper bag of sugar, cream and sweetener. "Where's she at?" Marjorine asked.

"Three inches." Wendy replied.

"Though you'd think she was having the baby now." Bebe added as another semi-scream came from the next room.

Kenny grinned a bit. "Vicki's a screamer, right Kyle?"

"Shut up dude. Shouldn't you be in there with her?"

"She doesn't want me until she gets to the pushing. Then you and I are supposed to go hold her hands."

Kyle was surprised to hear that. "Why me?"

"Because she's less likely to break a man's hand, and you're the only other living guy who's familiar with her 'birth canal'." Kenny explained, slowly but clearly, as if speaking to a kid.

It was then the nurse poked her head out into the waiting room. "She's at four inches. Kenny, Kyle, she wants you now."

Standing up, he followed his friend into the birthing room, and they joined Vicki by standing on either side of the bed. Her legs were up on this weird stand thing which hooked under her knees, and already, Vicki's face and neck were soaked with sweat. Leaning down, Kenny kissed his wife. "Ready babe?"

"Hell yeah. I want this thing out of me."

The doctor, who had seated himself on a stool at the end of the bed, chuckled. "Come back to me in three months and we'll see if you'd rather have her in. Now Vicki, on the next contraction, I need you to push, okay? You can squeeze the hell out of Kenny and Kyle's hands, but you need to put all your energy into pushing that baby out."

Vicki nodded, and when the next contraction hit, she immediately clamped down on Kyle's hand, screaming 'fuck, fuck, fuck' as the doctor said 'push, push, push'. And then she let go, and Kyle could feel his hand throbbing like it had been in a vice.

"Good job, Vicki. You guys up there okay? Any broken fingers yet?"

The shook their heads, and braced themselves as another contraction hit, and they repeated the process. And they repeated the process, over and over, until Kyle's fingers were black and blue, and Vicki looked like she was about to pass out.

"One more." The doctor coaxed. "You've done really well, just one more."

Another contraction hit, and Vicki's mouth seemed to explode. "GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKER SONOFA BITCH!"

And then the doctor was holding the baby, and there was a sharp, screaming cry that filled the air, until Kylie Stacey McCormick, born at quarter after ten pm on November 14th was passed to her mom. "There you go, Mrs. McCormick."

Vicki's face lit up like the Denver skyline. "Hi Kylie..." Tears threatened to escape her eyes as she stared down at her newborn daughter. "She's beautiful, isn't she Ken?"

"Perfect." He agreed, leaning down to lightly kiss his wife. "She's absolutely perfect."

Vicki passed the baby to her dad, and then turned to Kyle. "Thanks, Ky. I couldn't have done it without you."

They both knew she meant more than the labour. "Anytime, Vic. You're welcome anytime."

"Dude, do you wanna hold her?" Kenny asked after a few minutes of cooing at the newborn. Before Kyle could protest, he found his arms filled with a tiny baby girl wrapped up in a pink blanket. She was beautiful, in a baby sort of way, with wisps of dark hair and pale colored eyes he knew were going to become her father's baby blues. And for the moment Kyle held his Goddaughter, time just...stopped.

Until the rest of them started crowding into the delivery room, and the infant started squalling, and life went on, of course.

**

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**

Oh my god... It's over. To everyone who followed me all the way through, I love you so much. And special thanks to a1r3ady13ga1 who made finishing this possible with all her advice to fix this damn account of mine. I hope this wonderful thing you've done for me brings you good fortune the rest of your life. Thank you so much.


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